Arsenal reaches 1M hours without a lost time

PINE BLUFF, AR, UNITED STATES

09.29.2022

Story by Rachel Selby 

Pine Bluff Arsenal

On Sept. 20, Pine Bluff Arsenal achieved more than a million-man hours without a lost time injury. At that time, it has been more than 260 days since the Arsenal recorded a lost time injury.
“It is a big deal every time we achieve this milestone,” said Stephen Still, Chief of the Safety Division, under the Directorate of Risk Management and Regulatory Affairs. “We are not the enforcement branch of safety. This is the most ineffective thing you can do. People will make sure they are doing it while you are there and ignore it when you are gone. Our goal has always been to give people the tools they need so they can make good choices to work safely. Ultimately, it is up to them to make those choices. Our safety record reflects this.”
Pine Bluff Arsenal’s safety record has been exceptional during Fiscal Year 2022. During June, the installation was recognized by Joint Munitions Command with a certificate of appreciation for outstanding safety performance during the second quarter of the fiscal year.
. “Every job at the Arsenal has the potential for hazard. If you were to go through our records, just about every job class out here has had some safety issue,” said Still. “You have to make the same choices even if you aren’t in a high hazard area. Good decisions about how you approach your job are universal. This can be harder to define in some areas other than production, where the definitions are explained clearly.”
If you want to get hurt, you can, said Kevin Dorman, Director of Risk Management and Regulatory Affairs. “This is the reason behind SOPs (standard operating procedures),” he said.
Still said when he first started at RR, lost time injuries were high. “We spent the majority of our time doing accident investigations,” he said. “People learned and things improved. People don’t want to get hurt. Helping them understand the consequences to the choices was part of it. The Army wants you to take the time to do things in a way that won’t cause injuries.”
Long time leadership at the Arsenal, like Larry Wright, the former Deputy to the Commander, and Mark Lumpkin, the former Director of Risk Management and Regulatory Affairs, put a lot of emphasis on safety, said Still.
“This is when Process Safety Management was pushed down. Their leadership helped drive us onto the path of improving the overall safety performance of the Arsenal,” he said.
Bringing the Arsenal Health Clinic personnel in and forming the Injury Review Working Group really helped further shape the entire process. “It forced everyone to consider and look at all the moving pieces. If you aren’t careful, you can get tunnel vision in safety processes and overlook things. It helped expand everyone’s thinking. When the Health Clinic gets involved, it impacts the employee and how the installation is perceived with the decision.”
Everyone is involved and has responsibility in the processes of safety. “The Injury Review Working Group brought a lot of heads to the table – employees, supervisors, directors, the Health Clinic, Safety Division, Industrial Hygiene, etc.,” said Still. “All these different viewpoints being brought in helped and broadened the perspective on the safety situations. It included people who could make a difference. The supervisor drives the safety culture in the workplace. I think it also helped the supervisor understand they aren’t alone. They have resources and support they can lean on. This was a huge deal.”
We are operating with so few accidents they are hard to trend, said Still. “We are in a statistical noise level. The natural resource of life is where we are. We may have two or three accidents at once, but it is not because we were doing poorly.”
After 34 years of service, Still will retire in December. He helped the Arsenal with his safety team achieve more than one million hours without a lost time injury in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, more than two million hours in 2019, and more than three million hours in 2020.
“My role here is to manage my team. They know the processes on all the different production lines – from ammo to chem bio. They know them much better than I do,” said Still. “There are some extremely talented people in the Safety Office, as far as their skills and passion they have for their jobs and to do them well. They do a fantastic job.”
We have been fortunate to bring in good people behind the people who have departed the Arsenal, said Still.
“This is what I have told new hires – we can teach you safety. Obviously, you are qualified for the job. But what I can’t teach you is to get along with people, work hard and take care of your business,” he said. “If you can’t do those three things you are going to have a really hard time here. If you can do these things, you are going to have a good career here. I believe my group has bought into this and do a good job at all three.”

• Date Taken: 09.29.2022
• Date Posted: 12.20.2022 11:14
• Story ID: 435534
• Location: PINE BLUFF, AR, US